I did about 30 rough html docs and may do some more today while watching the rugby – which should be a walkover for England, but you never know, could be embarrassing!
Getting the first version of the outline done for the Agincourt gamebook was quite exhausting, and I have been yearning to get back to the novel project featuring Roger Draper, demon-hunter. So I have started on the research for this again. I have found some interesting stuff on the borough organization of St Albans, on which my fictional town of St Seward’s will be based. I have also identified other areas that I need to research. This in a way is quite easy research compared to Stupor Mundi as there is a relatively large amount of stuff available in English. Also my setting at the end of the day is fictional. So while I want to get the setting genuine, the actual historical details of what happens is less important, as the story is more a mirror of what really happened or could have happened.
A bit more research about the abbey and the surrounding county should allow me to be in a position to map out the local history and factional/character background for my own fictional location. Should be fun!
What is the generally premise of your novel? I’ve been working on a medieval historical fiction/fantasy piece for the past six years.
Like you, I’ve done a lot of research on the medieval setting, but I’m not so concerned about actual people, places, or events either.
Hi Stevent,
Thanks for leaving a comment. I have just been looking at your blog, and I must congratulate you on a great site. I found the information about your novel really interesting, and your links look very useful.
I take a slightly different approach to you I think. My setting will be real in a sense – last 14c England. The names of countries, king’s etc will be the same. But in order to give myself more freedom the town and locality in which the novel is set will be fictionalised, although it is based on a real place. The fantasy element of the book concerns whether magic works. It was believed in the middle ages that it did work, and usually it was held to be malevolent, in particular as it was a sort of perversion of the miracles of Christ and the saints. In my story, a young priest, with a dangerous amount of learning thinks he has come across the use of magic in the provincial town where he has recently arrived. He begins his investigations against the backdrop of conflict and intrigue between various factions and individuals in the town and surrounding area.
So as far as genre goes it is more of a medieval mystery like The Name of the Rose or Cadfael, but instead of investigating crime, the main character is investigating magic and necromancy.